Sitting ducks feeling lucky

Following reports of a "supercomputer" simulation of a 9.0 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake - and the probable grim results for anyone living anywhere near the local shoreline - at least one blogger is feeling a tad squeamish about visiting the Oregon coast.

Gene McIntyre, whose Neighbor Talk blog appears on the Statesman Journal website, grew up in Astoria, but writes he is loathe to return to the coast "without looking around for escape routes."

Fair enough.

But where does that leave those of us who actually live here? ... Are we stubborn Harry Truman types for continuing to dwell on a ribbon of land doomed (eventually, at least) to be inundated by large-scale, lashing waves?

Are we naive? Ignorant? ... Just plain dumb?

Or is our loyalty to the shore stoic and somehow noble?

It's not as if we haven't sustained our share of other natural-disaster-related troubles here. For example, last December's windstorms ushered in the second consecutive annual four-day-plus power outage in these parts. (It's exciting for all of about two hours, then it begins to work your nerves.)